• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Hypoallergenic Cats Could Be On The Horizon Thanks To New Genetic Discovery

December 5, 2024 by Deborah Bloomfield

Whether they’re trekking 1,450 kilometers (900 miles) or discovering new viruses, cats are pretty great. Unless, of course, you’re allergic. But what if there was a way to create felines that don’t leave your throat feeling akin to sandpaper? It’s early days, but new research into the protein that triggers allergies to cats has hinted at a potential gene editing target that could eventually give us hypoallergenic cats.

Approximately 15 percent of the US population is allergic to cats, experiencing symptoms including coughing, sneezing, irritated eyes, and asthma, which can range from mild to severe. Around 500,000 asthma attacks per year and 350,000 emergency care visits have been attributed to cat allergic disease, and yet, little is known about the diversity of the allergen that causes it or how it evolved.

Advertisement

There are several cat proteins known to induce an allergic response, the major one being Fel d 1, which is produced by all cats regardless of their breed, hair length, sex, age, or body weight. Cats produce Fel d 1 in their sebaceous, salivary, perianal, and lachrymal glands – contrary to common belief it is not the hair itself that causes allergies, but Fel d 1 on the hair. Different cats will produce different levels of the protein, meaning that some are more allergenic than others. However, as things stand, there are no cats that are completely hypoallergenic.

Fel d 1 is formed of two chains, and there are two genes, called CH1 and CH2, which encode each chain respectively. Its biological function is currently unknown, but research into similar proteins in other mammals suggests the allergen may be involved in immune regulation, protection of the epithelium, or chemical communication among cats.

In the new study, researchers compared Fel d1 sequences among 276 exotic and domestic cat species across millions of years of evolution, finding that they were variable along each evolutionary lineage. In fact, the team identified over 100 unique mutations in the protein sequence and found that CH1 and CH2 genes are also highly variable, which suggests the function of Fel d 1 could vary among cat species, or that Fel d 1 may not be essential for cats.

This was bolstered by the discovery that two cats – a cougar and a black-footed cat from Southern Africa – had natural mutations that significantly impair Fel d 1 protein. There has also been recent evidence of healthy cats with CRISPR-edited CH2.

Advertisement

So what does all this have to do with hypoallergenic cats? If our feline friends can do without Fel d 1, then we may be able to engineer happy, healthy cats without it – cats that, consequently, won’t get our noses running.

“The results suggest that Fel d 1 is a viable target for gene deletion to develop Fel d 1-free cats,” the researchers explain. “Deleting or rendering the Fel d 1 genes nonfunctional could have therapeutic implications for cat allergy sufferers by removing the allergen from the source.”

Essentially, with a little bit of CRISPR tinkering to delete CH1 and CH2, you could create hypoallergenic cats.

Of course, we’re still a long way from seeing this come to fruition, but it’s a very promising avenue of research, especially for any unfortunate cat lovers plagued by allergies to their beloved pets.

Advertisement

The study is published in PNAS Nexus.

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Cricket-Manchester test likely to be postponed after India COVID-19 case
  2. EU to attend U.S. trade meeting put in doubt by French anger
  3. Soccer-West Ham win again, Leicester and Napoli falter
  4. Lacking Company, A Dolphin In The Baltic Is Talking To Himself

Source Link: Hypoallergenic Cats Could Be On The Horizon Thanks To New Genetic Discovery

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • These Are The Only Animals Known To Incubate Eggs In Their Stomachs And Give “Birth” Out Their Mouths
  • Constipated? This One Fruit Could Help, Says First-Ever Evidence-Led Diet Guidance
  • NGC 2775: This Galaxy Breaks The Rules Of “Galactic Evolution” And Baffles Astronomers
  • Meet The “Four-Eyed” Hirola, The World’s Most Endangered Antelope With Fewer Than 500 Left
  • The Bizarre 1997 Experiment That Made A Frog Levitate
  • There’s A Very Good Reason Why October 1582 On Your Phone Is Missing 10 Days
  • Skynet-1A: Military Spacecraft Launched 56 Years Ago Has Been Moved By Persons Unknown
  • There’s A Simple Solution To Helping Avoid Erectile Dysfunction (But You’re Not Going To Like It)
  • Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS May Be 10 Billion Years Old, This Rare Spider Is Half-Female, Half-Male Split Down The Middle, And Much More This Week
  • Why Do Trains Not Have Seatbelts? It’s Probably Not What You Think
  • World’s Driest Hot Desert Just Burst Into A Rare And Fleeting Desert Bloom
  • Theoretical Dark Matter Infernos Could Melt The Earth’s Core, Turning It Liquid
  • North America’s Largest Mammal Once Numbered 60 Million – Then Humans Nearly Drove It To Extinction
  • North America’s Largest Ever Land Animal Was A 21-Meter-Long Titan
  • A Two-Headed Fossil, 50/50 Spider, And World-First Butt Drag
  • Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Is Losing Buckets Of Water Every Second – And It’s Got Cyanide
  • “A Historic Shift”: Renewables Generated More Power Than Coal Globally For First Time
  • The World’s Oldest Known Snake In Captivity Became A Mom At 62 – No Dad Required
  • Biggest Ocean Current On Earth Is Set To Shift, Spelling Huge Changes For Ecosystems
  • Why Are The Continents All Bunched Up On One Side Of The Planet?
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version